“Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.” -Buddha***
We mortals are composed of two great schools--Enlightened knaves or else religious fools.
--Abul 'Ala al Ma'arri (973-1057)***
"Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" -Auntie Mame
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Philosophy, History, Travel, the Arts, Whatever's on my Table...

Saturday, November 17, 2012

What makes a film a valuable work of art? The answer is complicated by the fact that there are many different ways for a film to make manifest what its subject or subjects are. For me Chinatown is a great film because it 1) Tells an intriguing story on two levels, the story of the building of Los Angeles, and the corruption it entailed; the love story of two unlikely lovers caught up in the larger story. 2) It does this visually as well as through dialogue and narration. The images and scenes of the film are key to the unfolding of the story. Music and cinematography are essential exciting elements. 3) the film is coherent despite the intricacies and complexity of plot, unfolding of characters, and surprising revelations. The characters in the film change and grow more aware as the story unfolds. 4) The film is brilliant with profound insights into character, history, human nature, love, corruption, the power of evil, capitalism, naivete, and disillusionment, to name a few. It is a dark story, but whether a film is "uplifting," or depressing, or shocking, or whatever does not matter so long as it possesses such qualities as the above four. My one caveat is that I am bored with the contrived "Hollywood ending," resembling the unnecessary, but now too often performed, "happy ending" to a good massage.Recent films I think excel, some of which I've posted commentary* :On The Road(review)Weekend *Melancholia*Take This Waltz(review)Perks of Being a Wallflower(review)Dangerous Method(review)

Past Films that have shaped my life and my understanding of life include:

Thursday, November 15, 2012

On Tuesday night, November 6, we celebrated the Democratic victory and the amazing triumph of liberal causes with some of these united states shoving gay marriage down the throats of repressed Republicans, and others shoving weed into their mouths, noses, and lungs. Talk about a breath of very fresh air...And the 51 % managed to shove the black man leader back into the once White- only house, with a mandate of over 3,000,000 votes.So, we decided to celebrate all the throat shoving with buttery French Foie Gras, washed down with a fine Vin d'Alsace, selected byour host David McQueen. It was a splendid night.